The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-01-16
AMURDERER'S CONFESSION.
The Terrible Crime of a 17-year-olt
Boy.

! The finding of the mutilated remains
of George A. Goldman, a milkman, near
Lexington, Mass, was mentioned IN
yesterdays Gazette. Although several
men were arrested in connection with
the murder, Jas. E. Nowlin now con-
fesses that he alone committed the
crime. In his story to the authorities
he says that he had been thinking of it
for some days, melted thereto by Cod
mans boastful way of showing money,
and expected to secure about 5000, with
which be intended to leave the State.
He killed Goldman in tae stable at about
2 O'Clock in the morning by coming be-
hind him and stabbing him in the side
OF the neck with butchers knife. He
severed an artery, and Goldman fell to
the floor and died almost instantly. He
then put the body under a pumg,
covered it up, and went on his milk
route, taking his brother with him. He
returned about II O'Clock, put up his
team and went to dinner. After dinner
he went to the stable, cleaned up
traces of the crime as well as he CO
and then deliberated as 10 the dispCs
ton of the body. He finally decided to
take it away in the pumg and secrete it
somewhere until he could safely get rio
of it. He considered the weight OF the
body, and to make it easier to handle
and to hide the traces of his CHASTITY
load, he concluded to dismember it.
Then he took an axe and first chopped
off the left leg close to the body; then
the right arm. Thinking that with these
members gone he could easily handle
what was left, he placed the body and
the severed members in the back part OF
his pung and covered them with the
rubber horse blanket which was subse-
quently found near the body, and also
put the axe into the sleigh. Before
starting he tidied things up in the stable
and destroyedWhat he could OF the marks
left after his rough mode of dissection.
He concluded then to secure the money,
for which he had committed the horri-
BILE crime, and started off with the turn
out and the body for Codman's board
ing house. He left the team standing a
few doors from the house and then went
IN, telling the landlord that Goldman was
going away for an indefinite time with
man, and mad sent him for his money
and other things. He was allowed to go
up to Codman's room to get the. articles
of apparel, and from there he carried off
and other articles Of value. He returned
to the team and drove off toward Lex
ington. After driving awhile he began
to realize the enormity of his crime, and
became more and more frightened as he
drove along, imagining that all who saw
him knew of the dreadful burden he was
carrying. His fears worked so much
upon him that when he came to lonely
part of the road, and was free from OBJ
serVation, he took the body out of the
pung, and, half frenZied by his fear of
detection, seized the axe and chopped
the head off and smashed the face until
he thought it would be unrecognizable.
He then threw the head and arm over a
wall, returned to the road, lifted the
body in the pung and started off again.
After driving about a mile and half
he again alighted and threw the body
into some shubbery, where it was after
ward found. The left leg he secreted in
some bushes near by. 1t has not yet
been found, but the murderer has des-
cribed its place of eOncealment, and it
will be secured by officers. After de-
posting the body, he took the rubber
blanket, which had hidden the remains
in the pung, and threw it, as he thought,
over the dismembefed body, jumping
into the pung ana GROVE on. Inc Dian
ket, however, fell short of its mark and
left the body exposed. His hideous mis-
sion occupied about four hours in its
consummation. After Nowlin had killed
Goldman in the stable ne stripped the
body of its clothing, bundled it up and
put it in the sleigh. He threw this off
without stopping some little time before
he chopped the victim s head off. Am
pie evidence of the crime was found
wnen the police searched the stable,
Nowlin's attempts to wash away the
stains having been Intellectual. In the
middle of the floor was large space
which had been recently washed. In
another place, an axe, smeared with
blood, was found When the police
confronted Nowlin with some of the evil
dence they had discovered, the boy be-
gan to weaken and change mis- tactics.
Jas. Edward Nowlin' is a handsome
Young fellow, little over II years old,
and is very intelligent looking. He is
one of four brothers, who reside in
While nothing really bad
is known of the brothers, they have the
of being hot-blooded and
wild. The father of the family, it is
stated, hanged himself in the peniten-
tiary.